Boxford’s Shelgren preparing to run in Foot Locker Cross-Country Nationals

Tuesday

Nov 28, 2017 at 10:13 PMNov 28, 2017 at 10:13 PM

Joshua Boyd jboyd@wickedlocal.com

Tristan Shelgren is a hit. He is in the top 40, and he certainly hopes to climb to No. 1.

Shelgren will be one of the 40 runners who have qualified for the Foot Locker Cross-Country Nationals, which is to be run on Saturday, Dec. 9, in San Diego, Fla.

"It’s crazy. It really is a dream come true in a sense," said Shelgren, who regularly competes for St. John’s Prep. "I made that a goal of mine. I printed up the logo of the Foot Locker Nationals, and hung it on my bedroom door with words reading ‘Do It For This.’ Every time I’m tired or don’t want to run, I look at that and just keep going."

Shelgren ran in the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals and won it on Nov. 25 at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y., qualifying him for Nationals.

"Anyone can sign up for the Foot Locker Regionals," said Shelgren, who raced against 180 runners from states ranging from Delaware and Pennsylvania to New York, Maine and everywhere in between. The top 10 from each of four nationwide Regionals qualified for the Dec. 9 championship race in San Diego.

This is just more icing on a gigantic cake for Shelgren, who has already won the Catholic Conference title, the Eastern Massachusetts Division 1 title and the All-State Division 1 title this fall. And if that wasn’t enough, earlier in November, he committed to the NCAA Division 1 University of North Carolina to continue his running career.

Shelgren ran a time of 15:32.8 to win the Regionals, and continues to keep his per-mile pace well under five minutes.

"My mile pace [at Regionals] was 4:50. I’m happy with that, but I can run faster if I’m in the right race," he said. "I started the season at, I believe, 4:55. It’s tough to compare, because every course is so different."

The field, however, was extremely tough at the Regionals in New York. Brookline’s Lucas Aramburu finished third after doing the same behind Shelgren at All-States a week earlier. Dalton Hengst, of Maryland, was fourth overall. Hengst won a big East Coast meet in North Carolina called the Great American Cross-Country Invitational, and he also won the Maryland Private School Championships.

Nathan Lawler was sixth, and he came from winning the New York state Class B championship.

So, yes, anyone could sign up for the race, but it was not for the feint of heart.

"[Hengst] is a big name cross-country guy who is very good. I thought if I could just stick with them for most of the race, I could give everything in the last mile," said Shelgren.

Shelgren keeps climbing the ladder, having finished 17th as a sophomore at All-States and second as a junior, before winning it this year. He was 14th at last year’s Foot Locker Regionals, missing Nationals qualification.

"I would say that my confidence has definitely risen, and I’m stronger, which gives me more energy towards the end of races," Shelgren added.

Shelgren tapered his mileage a little bit just before the Northeast Regionals, but was back up to running for 60 minutes at a time this week.

"I’ll taper it down again a little bit [next week], and just do some workouts, and speed runs to get ready for the race," said Shelgren.

At the race, he’ll have to be ready for the nine other runners he’s seen in New York already, but also Midwest winner Daniel Kilrea, of La Grange Park, Ill., who ran 14:53.3 (4:48 per mile) last weekend.

The South had two sub-15-minute runners in winner John Tatter (Winston-Salem, 14:55) and Michael Phillips (Tallahassee, Fla., 14:59). The West Regional is this Saturday.

There is little to no beach or sightseeing time planned in San Diego. Since there’s school on Monday, Shelgren will join head coach John Boyle and assistant coach Zach Lankow, as well as his parents, on a Friday flight to San Diego. They’ll run Saturday, and return Sunday.

Lankow also happens to be the indoor track head coach for the Prep. One of Lankow’s assistants is Steve Flanagan. He is the father of a former University of North Carolina and North Shore runner who made national headlines recently, Marblehead’s Shalane Flanagan. She became the first American woman to win the New York Marathon in 40 years.

"I just went down to Chapel Hill and it was a great team atmosphere," said Shelgren, of his decision to sign as a Tar Heel for 2018-19 and beyond. "It’s something I wanted to be a part of."

During the winter, Shelgren is expecting to run the mile and two-mile, but may also run some 1,000-meter events.

"Coach [Lankow] and I talked a little about that, but right now, I’m still focusing on my last cross-country meet," Shelgren added. "The indoor season will come and we’ll get on that when it has come."